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How do you get best mileage?

I am in love with my recently purchased Prius C. My Toyota 4Runner lost it s transmission at 180,000 and the amazing sales force put me in a Prius, a car that I have wanted since they were first announced, but thought I could never afford. The salesman said I would spend less on payments than the g asoline I bought with the 4Runner. He was almost right, but I have to spen d about $100/mo more for gas and the full auto ins coverage takes a lot mor e than basic liability.

My question to the salesman was how to get the best mileage and he said alw ays drive it in the ecomode setting. When I tried to set the cruise contro l while it was in the setting it wouldn't set, so I guess I can't use cruis e control and ecomode?

When riding a bicycle, I noticed that I worked the hardest on long stretche s of flat terrain. Since I live in a state where the speed limit for a lot of the area I travel is 80 mph, I was worried about attaining that speed i n the Prius, but it handles that speed quite well. I noticed the mpg regis ter goes up on the long stretches of flat terrain and goes down on numerous and fairly steep hill climbs and descents. I have noticed when I try to m aintain a steady foot on the gas pedal, I get below the speed limit up the hill, but accelerate past most other vehicles and of course 4wheelers on th e down side. So I have decided if a law were passed only allowing Prius-ty pe vehicles on the road and a traffic lane built about the distance from th e freeway as access roads are now where 4wheelers and Hummers have to run, our energy problems would be solved if no speed limit would be posted for t he smaller, lighter vehicles like Prius. Couldn't highways be designed to equal the forces to descend and climb? At any rate, my Prius, because of i ts lighter weight could easily go far over the speed limit on the descents, hence speed limits should be eliminated with fewer traffic injuries becaus e of the smaller vehicles.

I spent my life in old American cars--all I could afford and spent my life sitting on the side of the road and constantly broke trying to repair the f requent breakdowns. I bought my first Toyota car and never bought another American made vehicle. The first Camry only needed a battery replaced, as did the next Toyota, the 4Runner, only needing a new battery (with regular maintenance) until the transmission expired and that was probably my fault because it was rated to haul 5,000 pounds and I loaded a 5,000-pound stock trailer and then loaded several thousand pounds of cattle! But it ran 7 ye ars after that overload. Its transmission died at 180,000 miles. So I am more than grateful to the Japanese for their genius in car building.

But anyways, back to my topic. Since there is the stupid speed limit, do t he rest of you concur that I should stay in ecomode, cruise up to the speed limit on descent and, in many inclines, go down to the 60s mph on climbs?

Reply to
Carol Grosser
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do the rest of you concur that I should stay in ecomode....?

Carol, I hear you about Japanese reliability. Have been driving Hondas my whole life. Lost a little faith in them with the 2003 Accord, so started looking at Toyota.

Had been following the development of the C from it's first appearance at the car shows, and through it's debut in Japan as the Aqua. Bought a black level 3 in April 2012. There were some compromises made to save weight, mainly effecting road noise, and ride on bad pavement. But after a few test drives, I felt they were worth it to get a hybrid at that price, and with all the electronic goodies that I did NOT have in the Accord.

Now, on to maximizing miles per gallon. If you drive the Prius like you drove all your other cars, you will never do better than the EPA ratings, and might do worse. With a little adjustment in your driving habits, and attention to the ECO Score gauge on the upper dash, you can easily get over 50 on the highway and in the 60s and 70s off the highway.

ECO MODE: Yes. Leave it on all the time. It modulates the amount of pressure needed on the gas pedal to get a certain response from the engines(s). You'll get used to it after a while and wont notice any difference. It also adjusts the use of the air conditioner to save on electricity use and keep the battery charged more. The AC in the C is totally electric. It doesn't put any burden on the gas engine at all. Leaving it on all the time, in ECO mode, is fine. It will come on when needed based on where you set the temperature dial.

EV MODE: Don't bother. Waste of a button, that if eliminated could have allowed the front cup holder to not be such a stretch to reach. The car will go into EV mode on it's own whenever it feels it can. Everything is masterfully controlled by a computer.

DRIVING HABITS: I used to drive at 80 or better on the highway. Now I keep it under 70. 70-72 mph seems to be the tipping point for keeping MPG over 50. Don't tail gate. It's a gas waster. One car length gap for each 10mph in speed.

If you are normally a left lane driver on the highway, you will no longer be welcomed there all the time if going for maximum gas mileage. You might find the next lane to the right more comfortable (and less stressful). I used to drive there, and it took speeds of 90 or better to get me out of it. But now I have been Priusized (Borg joke for Star Trek fans). Keep the ECO line as low as possible.

Off the highway, keep in mind that momentum is your best friend. Don't stop or slow down unless you have to. The C handles quite well. You can go around corners faster than you think. Push the car a little more than you normally would and you'll see where the limits are.

When you see a situation up ahead where it is almost a certainty you will have to stop (red light, stop sign, backed up traffic), begin slowing down sooner than you normally would. That old habit most of us have of keeping our foot on the gas right up to the point where if we don't start braking right there we wont be able to comfortably stop in time, has to go away. The C comes with low rolling resistance tires. It coasts much better than cars without them.

Train your eyes to regularly glance at the ECO line and try to keep it as low as possible in all situations. Start slower from stops. You'll learn where the limits are there, for not annoying those behind you too much. As long as you get up to the speed of the other traffic in the lane you are in, most other drivers will be forgiving if it takes you a little longer to get there. Go with the flow, but do it gently.

CRUISE CONTROL: Only us it on trips where the road is always perfectly flat. CC wastes gas trying to keep a steady speed up hills. Watch the ECO Score line. Try to stay out of the Power zone unless you really need it. Drop a few mph on uphill stretches and gain as much speed as possible on downhills. That goes for off the highway as well. With a little practice, you will be able to do much better than the CC on your own.

Good luck with your C. It's not really meant to be highway cruiser. But I think you might be truly amazed at the MPG you can get at speeds between 25 and 50 mph. That's the sweet spot for this car. I average

60 mpg on my 40 mile commute each day, but its the 20 miles of it that are *off* the highway that make it possible. That's in warm weather. MPG *does* drop in cold weather. More than for non hybrids.

Bob

Reply to
rjdriver

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

bought with the

gas and the

Hi,

Full disclosure, we only have a 2003 Prius (1.5L) and 2010 (1.8L) so I don' t have direct, Prius c experience to share. But there are some things that work on both Prius that may apply:

1) Use the tire rated, maximum sidewall pressure - look at the tires and st art using that pressure and refill it every 60 days. Tires leak air and rai sing the tire pressure reduces the rolling drag a measurable amount. My exp erience has been that resetting the tire pressure warning level after fully inflating the tires works great. The steering and handling will be more pr ecise but you will feel potholes and gravel. Some experimentation trading o ff noise, comfort, mileage, and handling makes a lot of sense. Harbor Freig ht sells nice, air pumps that run off of the 12V 'cigarette' lighter and ma kes it easier to top off the tires every 60 days.

2) Use slower traffic as a pacing vehicle - moving company semitrailer truc ks and those towing trailers are great candidates. Many truck drivers have to pay for the fuel they burn and have learned how to put that money in the ir pockets yet meet their schedules. So go up a hill in the truck climbing lane following one at a safe distance and otherwise stay well behind becaus e you don't want to be surprised by road debris.

BTW, I use cruise control all the time, including city driving. If you 'pat ' the stalk up, you'll get +1 mph per up pat and -1 mph per down pat. I can 'stack' three pats in each direction and wait for the car to reach the tar get speed. The advantage of cruise control is it keeps from 'fretting' the accelerator for smoother speed control. But driving on cruise control is no t for everyone nor is using slower traffic as a pacing vehicle.

Now your Prius c is a compact car much like our 2003 but with 10 years of t echnical advances. The engine has cooled, exhaust recirculation which signi ficantly improves high power efficiencies. The transmission is much improve d and I suspect the handling. But you really have a terrific little car.

One last suggestion, try starting the car when you first get in before even buckling up and checking the mirrors and setting the radio/audio. It takes a little over a minute for the initial warm-up to complete enough that the engine tunes the mixture. Don't be in a hurry to pull out but make startin g 'first' and do all of the other drive prep while the engine gets to auto- tuning, mixture mode.

GOOD LUCK! Bob Wilson

Reply to
bwilson4web

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